Monday, January 22, 2007

Great! - We are now officially "Chav Central"

South Tyneside named as one of Britain's "Respect Zones"

So we are now officially one of Ms. Casey's 40 'respect zones' that will receive 6m. pounds of tax payer's cash to hand out more Acceptable behaviour contracts and ASBO's and to set up more parenting classes. I suppose any little bits of help would be welcomed, but 6m. pounds could have provided a few more policemen to tackle some real crimes and catch the culprits and remove them from circulation!

I know that I complained that last year we were slow to take up the initiative in South Tyneside, and I guess that that reticence has resulted in us being put in this list of top 40 'hotspots' by Louise Casey and her 'Respect Agenda'. The Home Office said the 40 respect areas were not the worst in England and Wales for anti-social behaviour but had been chosen from a longer list of those with significant challenges. (If that doesn't sound like the top 40 Chav Cities, I don't know what does, joining us in the list of shame are Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sunderland.)

Needless to say South Tyneside Council will put the best possible 'spin' on the situation, Cllr. Joanne Bell, the Lead member for Safer and Stronger Communities said:

"This is good news for the Borough and the Council. We want to enhance our current work by deepening our approach to tackling the underlying causes of anti-social behaviour. This means intervening early where problems occur and broadening our efforts to address other areas of poor behaviour."

Make of that what you will, it remains to be seen what effect a few additional evictions will have (these people have to be rehoused somewhere), it remains to be seen how many ASBO's will be breached, it remains to be seen how many better parents are created. I will reserve judgement to see how effectively the money is spent.

Nationally the Conservative Shadow Police Minister Nick Herbert said:

"The government has cut 4,000 promised police community support officers from the forces covering these so-called 'respect areas'. Communities don't want gimmicks like 'respect handbooks' - they want police officers on their streets to take real action against anti-social behaviour. Today's announcement conspicuously omits any reference to Asbos - hardly surprising when over half are breached and teenagers now treat them as a badge of honour."

The news today can make all mention of "Respect" look pretty silly when a top judge, Lord Justice Richards is arrested for allegedly indecently exposing himself to a female passenger on a train - just who wrote today's script?